The present invention relates generally to an ecommerce order optimization tool based on quantity ordered, delivery location and, optionally, delivery date requested. Particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for optimizing the combination of production schedule and shipping method to minimize price for a given delivery date for customized promotional products and other custom or non-stock goods.
Ecommerce tools typically provide a user with a selection of a quantity of a given product and, often, a shipping method. These systems lack efficient tools for allowing a customer and vendor to optimize the production schedule and delivery schedule to deliver non-stock goods to the customer on a selected delivery date for an optimal price.
For example, the typical ecommerce site for ordering custom goods allows users to select amongst a plurality of order options related to production schedule (e.g., standard production, rush production, etc.) and delivery methods (e.g., ground shipping, two day shipping, overnight shipping, etc.), from which a price is calculated. While useful, these systems do not allow for efficient optimization of the production and delivery schedules and further do not provide an easy mechanism for evaluating alternate combinations of delivery dates and order quantities.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system, method, and product that provide a customer and vendor to optimize the production schedule and delivery schedule to deliver non-stock goods to the customer to a selected location on a selected delivery date for an optimal price.